This Lemony Kale Basil Soup is packed with flavor and phytonutrients and can be made in just 30 minutes.

Soup season is here and you’re going to want to make this one weekly. Deeply colorful plant foods, organic and grass-fed meats, and wild fatty fish are abundant in compounds that strengthen and protect our cells.

The only way to take advantage of these disease-fighting compounds is to focus on our food quality. It means our bodies use chemicals found in food to beneficially influence each of our biological systems. I call this process symbiotic‐phytoadaptation. When we think of food, we think of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.īut the most important parts of food may be the tens of thousands of medicinal compounds embedded in plants and even animal foods that regulate, modulate, and influence nearly all of the 37 billion billion chemical reactions that occur in our bodies every second. We are just beginning to understand how food influences our cells, tissues, organs, moods, thoughts, feelings, and the structure of our bodies, but what scientists have discovered over the last few decades is astonishing.įood is not only a source of energy, joy, connection, and pleasure it can also rejuvenate us and even reverse disease. Sign up for Function at and you can find the full episode here: Function Membership starts with 100+ lab tests & insights from experts in heart, hormones, nutrients, cancer, and more. I co-founded Function Health with the intention of helping more people optimize their health. All of these tests are included with Function Health membership. In today's podcast episode, I explain what tests are important to better understand your metabolic health and why.

I’ve personally witnessed the impact of testing fasting insulin in my clinical practice-it catches the early signs of metabolic dysfunction while they can still be reversed using personalized nutrition, diet, and lifestyle interventions. Detecting high insulin levels before these warning signs appear can prevent type 2 diabetes decades before it's full-blown! It detects insulin resistance long before a fasting blood glucose test does. There’s one test that your doctor probably isn’t doing that can be one of the biggest indicators of poor metabolic health, and that’s a fasting insulin test.įasting insulin is a measure of your insulin levels unaffected by a recent meal. Only 1 in 8 Americans are considered metabolically healthy (think obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension). You can add mustard, tahini, or lemon for different flavors. I usually throw some olive oil on top with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. I never buy store-bought salad dressing because it has a lot of gums, fillers, sugar, and soybean oil. If I want extra protein, I like to add canned wild salmon because it’s fast and easy. I like to use arugula because I don’t have to chop it - I can throw it right in. The key is to have all the staple ingredients in your kitchen that stay good for a long time, such as olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, pumpkin seeds, mustard, and canned artichokes.īut you also want to get fresh ingredients like tomatoes or avocados. All you need is a knife and a couple of spoons. The beauty of this meal is you don’t need a whole fancy kitchen. It’s full of powerful plant-based compounds that help you stay healthy and fats that help you stay full and speed up your metabolism. It’s called a fat salad, and why do I call it a fat salad? This is my favorite quick and easy lunch. Taking a supplement of 1-2 grams a day is wise as it protects your cardiovascular system and reduces inflammation. So, it’s important to supplement with a daily fish oil. Some of us won’t eat those dark, oily fish ever. The toxins these big fish accumulate outweigh the benefits from their omega-3s.Īs important as omega-3s are to every cell in our bodies, we’re not going to eat salmon and sardines every day. That’s why I don’t really eat swordfish, Chilean sea bass, halibut, and tuna. Stay away from farmed seafood or wild fish that contain a lot of toxins - larger fish are higher on the oceanic food chain, and as a result they accumulate more mercury, PCBs, and other toxins. Much like our preference for vegetables, the fish that Americans love the most tend to be the kind that are the least nutritious, like tilapia and farmed catfish - pale, mild-tasting varieties that are lowest in omega 3s. The best fish are sustainably sourced, chock-full of omega-3s, low in contaminants and omega-6s, and certified authentic. You should eat seafood at least three times a week. I like these types of small fish, SMASH fish: Salmon (wild caught), Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, and Herring. I always tell people that if you can fit the entire fish in your pan, then it’s probably a good choice.

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